To Him, Nothing Is Small

By G. E. Shuman

Hello readers. This column is of a bit more serious nature than most that I have written lately. I hope you enjoy it, in spite of that fact, or perhaps because of it.
I am in the process of slowly reading a very small, almost pocket-sized, hard covered book. It was one of many books left in my Grandfather Shuman’s estate years ago. I’m not sure how I actually ended up with the book, but I have recently become very glad that I did. You see, this little book is very old. In fact, having been written in 1848, it is almost certainly the oldest thing in my one hundred-plus year old home. The book was written by a man named Ernest Sartorius, who, even in his day, held the title of doctor of divinity. The title of Dr. Sartorius’ book is The Person And Work of Christ.

As a Christian myself, I partially decided to read the little book simply because it was written about The Lord. But also, I have, for years, been interested in antiques, and in the people of the past themselves. I see an elderly piece of furniture, and wonder who the man was who made it, and what was going on in his life the day he completed it. For he, whomever he was, was a real person, with real problems on that very day. In the case of my little antique book, I wondered just how a religious scholar of a time some fifteen years before our civil war, would write. I wanted to know how he would think about God, Jesus, and what words he would use to express those thoughts. He was also a real person, and his thoughts were obviously influenced as much by the time in which he lived, as our thoughts are by our time. Dear readers, I know many people may not care at all about such things, but I hope some of you do. We can learn much from the people of the past.

As I said, I am reading this little book slowly. One unavoidable reason is that the print is quite light and small, and the pages fragile and yellowed. Another is that it is enjoyable to get to know this man from the past, at least a little. The book is actually a transcript of an extended college lecture. I imagine, as I read, that Dr. Sartorius is sitting across some table from me, filling my mind with his wisdom, over cups of coffee. I want this conversation to be a slow and deliberate one, so that I miss nothing. So far, getting to know the good doctor has been very rewarding.

I decided to share all of this with you, mainly because of the effect that one of Sartorius’ ideas has had on me. Before I quote the author directly, let me preface his words with the acknowledgement that if you are a believer in the God of The Bible, his words will certainly have the most meaning to you. If you do not know what you believe, it is my hope that this quote will help you understand that He is real, and to see a glimpse of how truly awesome that reality is. From my perspective, the following words express a dimension of God’s nature and power that I had simply never considered before.

Now here is the quote, written one hundred and sixty years ago: “In creation, too, it is seen, that in the smallest work on earth God is no less wonderful than in the greatest in heaven; and that as to Him nothing is great, so nothing to Him is small. The microscope develops to us as great wonders as the telescope.” To me that is a very profound thought. It expresses the fact that God’s power and concern can be, and is, everywhere. It tells of His immense intellect, in putting the same care in the creation of the smallest molecular structures as in the creation of the galaxies. To me, that makes it a bit easier to understand that God really can be and is concerned for all of us, as individuals. In fact, knowing these things, how could it be otherwise? If He truly exists, as I and about eighty six percent of all other Americans believe, then we, in old age or in youth, as newborn or yet to be born children, are exceedingly important to Him. “As to Him nothing is great, so nothing to Him is small.” How cool is that?